Sister Neel 7/26/21

 

Hey everyone!! 

I hope you all had an amazing week 'cause we missionaries over here in Wake Forest sure did! And here's why:

We had a lesson with Kelly at Joyner Park and while we were waiting for her these two guys our age walked up to us and introduced themselves as messengers from God and wanted to share their message with us. Before we could even answer they sat down next to us at the picnic table and instantly noticed our name tags and Book of Mormons which prompted them to ask more about our religion. I for sure thought we were about to get bashed but Kelly showed up and Sister Stoddard invited them to be a part of the lesson XD. It turned out to be quite interesting. We talked about the background of the BOM, read 1 Nephi 8 to give a greater meaning of the Covenant Path and ended with Moroni's promise in chapter 10. The two guys asked a lot of deep clarifying questions and so did Kelly! She told us at the end of the lesson she believes the Book of Mormon to be true after much study and prayer the past few weeks which is huge progress for her!! It was a good lesson! The two guys want to meet again with us to discuss more religion questions so I guess we'll see how that goes XD.

Thursday was a super crazy day. We had a few Facebook lessons over zoom but we also had a church tour scheduled with Brenda, a lady who found our mission Facebook page and requested a visit from us! She brought her cousin Patricia with her and they loved it! Brenda kept saying how she's been looking for a church and this felt like the one for her. Keep them in your prayers too! We had dinner with the one and only Christensen fam before us and Sister Christensen drove to Joyner park to meet up with Sam! He's soooo close you guys. Ah! He's coming to know for himself if the BOM is true and it's taking a little bit but he's so diligent and faithful! We had a spirit filled lesson that directed our thoughts and words to something completely different than what we had planned but by the expressions on Sam's face were proof it was everything he needed to hear. We felt prompted to have Sister Christensen share her conversion story and it helped Sam be able to relate to someone who knows what he's going through perfectly.

On Friday we visited a lot of less active members in our ward and got a lot of return appointments so that was awesome! We also had a lesson with James and taught him the Restoration. He wants to come to church next Sunday so keep him in your prayers! 

President Maurer announced that Saturday was going to be a 'NCRM Super Saturday Outdoor Blitz day.' Basically where all missionaries were required to leave the apartment by 10 and not return home until 5 pm. Since things are now opening back up he's highly encouraged we do more in person contacting whether that's on the streets, at the stores, knocking formers doors, you name it. Luckily Sister Stoddard and I try to spend as little time in the apartment as possible so this was easy for us ;). We had a service project with the other Wake Forest sisters from 9-12. It was a duck race where people adopt a rubber duck and it goes towards charities in the local areas. The first 10 ducks that cross the finish line first get money prizes which range from 500 dollars to a whopping 2,000! We helped set up the massive slippin' sides and then dressed up in the duck merch they gave us to hand out last minute flyers to all the parents at the nearby soccer games. Half of their staff ended up not being able to come last second so they started assigning us roles to fill during the race. I was told I was going to be behind the scenes of the interviews and running the cameras which stressed me out like no other XD. I had Mark, the guy running the show to direct me but they mic'd me up, gave me directions on what angles the camera needed to face and let me know I was the one that was going to count the interviewers down, that were all spread out in the area through my walkie talkie, before they were to go live. ABC 11 news ended up showing up as well so I got to be on TV and sponsored in the interviews as a volunteer haha! We had a huge turn out of people and lots of fun prizes, loud music and water activities! We made some good friends with the duck splash team and even got a few of their numbers to later contact!

Anyways this email is a beast but so was this week so I can't complain! Most important take away was that God is a God of miracles and sends people to us that we have the power and ability to uplift, strengthen and love. There is joy in serving others and being the Lord's hands here on earth:)) I just absolutely love being a missionary and serving in the NCRM! Even on the hard days! God lives and He loves you! Always remember that!

♡♡♡

Sister Neel